Why diets don’t work (in the long term)

Many of you have probably already tried one diet or another. Whether it’s FdH (“eat half”), low carb or food combining – diets are a dime a dozen. When you step on the scales and realize that you have gained another 5 kilos on your hips, the next diet seems like an angel in need. Advertising slogans in magazines, on TV or on social media such as “5 kilos less in 2 weeks – without starving yourself” sound promising, don’t they? If there are also before and after pictures of happy people, it must work!

And bang, the diet trap strikes. The initial elation (“Everything will be better with the new diet”) is soon followed by the harsh reality: a birthday party, pizza with friends or simply a stressful day and the candy drawer is plundered. Dietary resolutions are thrown overboard for a moment. You’re not alone with thoughts like “it doesn’t matter today, I’ll get back on track tomorrow”. But somehow it doesn’t work the next day or the day after that either.

And so begins a vicious cycle that pulls you into a maelstrom of self-doubt, a guilty conscience and negative feelings. Diets are often the ticket to disordered eating behavior, reinforce a negative body image and destroy your self-confidence.

 

My tips for you:

That’s why I have five tips for you on how you can achieve your goal without dieting. Even if it doesn’t work on the first attempt, keep at it! Changing your diet doesn’t work overnight. Always keep your goal in mind and work on yourself every day.

1. Stay away from diets

Every diet reduces muscle mass in order to ensure the energy supply to the organs. Your basal metabolic rate therefore decreases. Over the course of chronic dieting, your body weight will increase step by step after every “failed” diet, but your energy requirements will decrease.

But there are also good things about diets: they increase your awareness when shopping, make you more mindful when eating and can have positive effects on your perception of hunger and satiety. However, these effects don’t usually last long. Diets are characterized by prohibition and renunciation, which make life difficult for us.

Therefore, try to optimize your diet in small steps. Take one or two eating habits and find ways and opportunities to improve them.

Example: Do you always drink sodas or other sweet drinks in between meals? As a first step, try replacing these with plain tap water, infused water or unsweetened, homemade iced teas. Filled into the practical AlpenPower drinking bottle, you’ll have a sugar-free thirst quencher on the go.

2. Take time to eat

Eating should not just be an unpleasant side activity, but can be a moment of pleasure in your perhaps stressful everyday life. Take a “vacation from everyday life” and enjoy your meal.

Here is a simple exercise to help you eat more mindfully: Take 20 to 30 minutes for a main meal. Avoid any distractions during this time, i.e: No cell phone, no TV, no newspaper. Just your meal and you. Now put the first bite in your mouth, chew slowly and try to perceive the different flavors of your food. Only take the next bite once you have swallowed.

If you consciously take time to eat, you will be able to perceive the taste of your food more intensely, chew more slowly and feel the point when you are sufficiently satiated.

3. Eat regular meals

Your body is a little miracle worker and does an enormous amount for you every day. And that’s exactly why it needs enough “fuel”. After all, your car doesn’t run without fuel either. So treat yourself to regular meals so that your metabolism can work at full speed.

There is no simple answer to how many meals you should eat. This is individual and also different every day. Pay attention to your feeling of hunger, notice hunger signals such as a rumbling stomach, shaky hands, feeling cold or difficulty concentrating and try to plan regular meals.

4. Plan a few days in advance

So that you don’t have to run to the nearest supermarket or settle for the selection in the canteen when you suddenly get hungry, it’s best to take something with you from home. It can help to plan a few days in advance. What are your working hours, when do you have additional appointments, on which days can you cook in advance at home? All these factors can be taken into account in advance and you will be prepared for an emergency – i.e. hunger.

Here are a few tips on what you can take with you to work:

Salads to go: crunchy, bite-sized chopped vegetables, leftover side dishes from the previous evening such as wholegrain pasta or brown rice and protein sources such as pre-cooked pulses, cheese cubes or eggs are layered in a suitable screw-top jar, topped with dressing and the lid closed. Shake well at work, pour onto a plate and enjoy. Also possible as a muesli variant: layer in unsweetened muesli mixes, yogurt, fruit and nuts and your “muesli-to-go” is ready. For a more satisfying effect, simply dissolve one or two tablespoons of AlpenPower protein powder in a little liquid and stir into the yogurt. This ensures a higher protein content and therefore longer satiety. The extra bonus for your intestinal health: add psyllium husks.
Snack bento box: Stylish bento boxes with compartments can be filled as desired and thus offer more variety for your lunch break. Sandwiches, wraps and perhaps even the vegan AlpenPower patties left over from the previous evening fit into the box to save space – without the individual components mixing. Plus vegetable sticks, fruit for dessert and nuts for brain food – everything fits in perfectly.

5. Last but not least: Get rid of the scales!

Yes, I mean that seriously! Weighing yourself weekly or daily gives many people a feeling of security and control. But let’s be honest: the exact opposite is the case. When the weighing is imminent, most people are unbalanced, feel a slight anxiety rising within them and if the scales don’t show what they want, they are overwhelmed by a wave of shame and self-doubt.

So put the scales in the far corner of your bathroom cabinet. Try to measure changes not by your weight, but by your body: More energy in everyday life, better well-being, more desire for sport and exercise, fewer food cravings, less bloating and suddenly your favorite jeans fit better again.

Even if these tips don’t sound as innovative and tempting as promises from the diet world, you can achieve much more with them than with some run-of-the-mill diet from a “want-to” health magazine, with which you lose 5 kilos for a short time, but ultimately come out with 7 kilos plus. Give yourself and your body time. Be patient and remember: “Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase.”